Pretty Little Liars
by eclarefanaticxoxo
Summary: Doesn't the title say it all? Degrassi style. Anyone who doesn't watch the show or hasn't read the books, you can still give this a try. It's already a crazy ride for certain people at Degrassi, and it's about to get a whole lot crazier.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi!**

**So, number one: EVERYONE is EXTREMELY OC. Like, to the max. So, just bear with me.**

**Number two: Fiona is the same age as Clare, Alli, and Adam.**

**Number three: Declan is two years younger than Fiona in this.**

**Number four: Darcy was never raped  
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**Number five: Yes, I used Julia. And for a reason, too :-)**

**If I missed anything else, let me know in your reviews, please!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRETTY LITTLE LIARS OR DEGRASSI.  
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Chapter 1

Clare sighed as she gazed down at her fancy scalloped plate, tugging at her uncomfortably formal dress under the table. She drummed her manicured fingers against the covered table impatiently, and anxiously. She and her family were here to meet Darcy, Clare's competitive older sister, and her new boyfriend, Eli, who was apparently only a year older than Clare, but dorky enough to have gotten into med school early. Of course Darcy would find the perfect boyfriend and make Clare look bad. Clare sighed sourly and took a swig of her water. Her parents both smiled widely, almost in a fake fashion, like jack-o-lanterns. Well, they were pretty fake. When you were in the Edwards' family, everybody had to be perfect, look perfect, act perfect. And Clare tried her hardest to be that way. She took advantage of her family's vast wealth to throw herself into academics, athletics, and acting. She maintained a 4.0 GPA, taking all AP classes. She was the lead in two plays right now. She played field hockey, and volleyball. She was the vice president.

But of course, Darcy had done all of that, only she had been president, and she had been on Spirit Squad, _and_ she had been in three plays during her junior year. Clare huffed angrily again, and picked up her water glass, only to have water swish out and splash onto the table cloth. Her parents dropped their smiles immediately, and Clare hurriedly tried to dry it. She couldn't do anything wrong without taking hell for it from her parents, of course.

But she _still_ couldn't get over the fact how Darcy had managed to get a better boyfriend than Clare. Clare was pretty, with her short curls and her big blue eyes, but of course Darcy snagged all the guys, with her long brown hair and pretty brown eyes. Clare had been dating KC Guthrie, someone who was right along in all her AP classes, but of course, he cheated on her. Darcy's boyfriends never cheated on her. Darcy had it good, much better than Clare ever did.

And Julia had never let Clare forget it.

Clare winced. How had Julia come up in her mind? Clare had tried to stop thinking of her, but it seemed like every little thing reminded her of her friend who had disappeared at the end of seventh grade. Or maybe Julia wasn't really Clare's friend. Clare had never truly understood why Julia had befriended Clare. In fact, she didn't get why Julia befriended any of them. And when she said them, she meant Alli, Fiona, and Gracie, who were all unpopular girls in the grade along with Clare. But Julia was _the_ girl, the one _everyone_ wanted to be, the most popular in the grade. And out of nowhere, she invited them to come into their little clique. Everything had been like a fairy tale, up until the days leading to Julia's disappearance, when Julia had started to get a little distant. And then had disappeared altogether.

Clare shuddered.

But really. Off the topic of Julia. Back to Darcy. She was dating a boy who was a _year_ older than Clare, and was in med school. Clare couldn't get over it. But Clare would find someone better. Besides, who wanted to date someone named Eli, anyway? Sounds like something from the Bible. Sounded nerdy.

"Mom?" Darcy squealed excitedly. Helen stood up, smiling brightly, and hugged her daughter. Randall stood up as well. Darcy was dressed in her usual outfit, with skinny jeans and a long sleeved pink shirt that outlined her perfect body figure. Her long hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her eyes shone. Then Clare saw who was standing behind her, and her mouth dropped.

Eli didn't look like a biblical figure. At all. He had long, shaggy, dark hair that fell into his face. He had a shocking pair of gorgeous emerald eyes that were dazing. His pinkish lips were curled into a smirk. His clothes were dark, with hints of red in them. Eli shook hands with both Helen and Randall, and then he politely sat down after holding out the chair for Darcy, and when his eyes met Clare, he smirked even more. Clare squeaked quietly, her cheeks flaming.

"I'm Eli," he said in a husky voice, holding his hand out to shake.

Clare took it, marveling at his strong and masculine hand. "I'm Clare."

"Darcy didn't tell me she had a sister," Eli continued. Clare's smile dropped. Of course not.

"So, I see you met her," Darcy cooed, putting a hand on Eli's shoulder. She shot Clare an unfathomable glance, almost nervous. Was she threatened by Clare? Clare looked down at what she was wearing. A tightly fitting blue dress that brought out her eyes. Her curls had grown out a bit, so they just about touched the tips of her shoulders. A pretty diamond necklace hung against her creamy and pale skin.

"How are you, Clare?" Darcy asked distractedly, putting a napkin in her lap. Clare knew she was only asking to look good, but she tried to answer anyway.

"Well, pretty good. I-"

"Oh my goodness, they still have my favorite dish here!" Darcy clapped her hands together in delight. "Oh, I'm sorry Clare-bear, I didn't mean to cut you off! How was school?"

"School, huh?" Eli took a sip of his water. "Where do you go?"

Clare opened her mouth to answer, but Darcy spoke for her. "She's only in high school, Eli. She goes to Rosewood Day."

"I can talk," Clare muttered indignantly. Eli smirked at her response, but other than that, she was ignored.

"So, Darc, how has school been for you?" Randall finished telling his order to the waiter and turned to face Darcy. Randall hadn't bothered asking Clare how her day had been. Clare sighed as Darcy leapt into her tale.

"It was actually pretty uneventful today, Daddy," Darcy answered, looking down at her hands. "You know, I feel like I'm not doing enough. Even though I've been working ten hours a day at my job and school, I just feel like I'm not helping you and Mom out enough." She sighed.

Clare's cheeks flushed red with anger and she took her glass in both hands and chugged it down as Helen and Randall consoled Darcy, who nodded, and finally smiled. She couldn't believe it. Darcy had them all wrapped around her little finger. Except for maybe Eli, who was still dreamily smirking, glancing at Clare. Clare blushed again.

"Oh, and Mom and Dad?" Darcy asked. "Do you mind if Eli and I stay in the house for a little bit, while we're up here?"

Clare snorted. As if. Finally, she could see Darcy get rejected, because there was no way her parents were going to let Darcy and Eli stay in the house together, with the way they were. Darcy's face would drop-

"Of course you can!" Randall boomed. "You should have asked earlier."

Darcy and Helen both beamed, and Darcy took Eli's hand. Eli smiled at her, keeping her hand in his. All of them looked so happy.

Clare couldn't believe it. Without a word of excuse, she rose and stormed away, making her way through the crowds of rich, fancy people, in the rich, fancy world she suddenly hated.

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"Oh my God, I can't believe how much I missed Canada," Declan, Fiona's brother exclaimed, his blue eyes raking over the landscape.

"I don't even get why you're so excited to be here," Fiona grumbled.

"Oh, come on, Fi," Laura, Fiona's mom, said cheerfully. "I know you miss New York, but at least we're back in our hometown!"

"It'll be great," Michael, Fiona's dad, reassured her.

Fiona sighed and leaned back more into her seat, leaning her head against the window. If only she could feel the same way. After Julia had disappeared, her parents had moved the family to New York City, for a fresh start. And everyone needed one. Fiona needed to forget about Julia, and her parents, Laura and Michael, fell in love again, even though their marriage had been falling apart.

Fiona swallowed hard. She knew a secret that could possibly destroy her parent's marriage forever. Julia had known it too, but Julia was…gone. And Fiona didn't know where she was. Hopefully, though, the secret would stay gone with Julia. She really hoped it would.

They pulled up to their house, a medium sized, sort of artsy house. It looked exactly the same as when they had left; white, random window in the middle, and a yellow paint stain from when Declan and his friends had a paint ball fight and got it on the house. Everyone got out of the car and pulled their suitcases out as well, but unlike Fiona, they did it eagerly. Fiona pulled the curls that had gotten in her jacket out and smoothed them down as she walked into her house, sighing. She went into the living room and absently played with the blanket that hung on the sofa that Laura had gotten from Greece. She wanted to be _anywhere_ but back here. Fiona had flourished in New York City. Here, she had been Julia's awkward friend who was supposedly artistic. In New York City, she was a beautiful, artsy girl that had photographers snapping photos of her on the streets and guys actually asking her out. She felt like she _belonged_ in New York City. But here…she just wanted to run away.

And also here, after Julia had befriended her, Julia had been her sort of…security blanket. No one dared bully Fiona because she was Julia's best friend. But still, Fiona felt she couldn't be herself. And she felt the same way, again. but she wasn't going to let that affect her. She was going to be the confident, beautiful girl she had become in New York.

"Mom!" Fiona heard Declan whine. "Can you take me to Drew's house? I want to catch up with him."

Fiona's ears perked up. Drew. Drew Torres. Gracie's brother, the athletic jock that Declan had always gotten along with. She wondered how Gracie was doing. She hadn't seen her in so many years…

Laura sighed. "Honey, I don't know if I can. Michael, can you?"

There was the sound of shuffling paper. "Um…I actually have to step into the office for a bit. Sorry."

"What?" Laura sounded exasperated. "But you just got back!"

"Laura, I'm sorry, okay? I can't control when they want me to go!" Michael walked out the door, annoyance clear in the way he was walking out and his voice. Fiona sighed. She had an idea of where he dad was really going. It looked like the love Laura and Michael had found in New York was evaporating. Fiona rose off the couch, going into the kitchen. Laura was stirring a pot of something, trying to blink back tears.

"Mom?" Fiona asked softly. "I can take Declan."

Laura looked up, sniffing slightly. "Thank you, Fi."

Fiona walked over and hugged her mother tightly. "No problem, Mom. Now hand me those keys," she teased. Laura smiled and gave her the keys, Fiona snatching them playfully. Fiona dragged Declan outside and they drove to Drew's house, Declan going on and on about how happy he was to be here. Fiona sighed. She knew it had been hard on her brother moving to New York, but she really didn't care. He was a mature guy- he should have made more friends. They finally pulled up to Drew's house, a nice, reasonably sized home, and Declan threw the door open and walked towards the house without a goodbye. Fiona considered going out with him, but then decided against it, a migraine starting to rock through her head. A reunion with Gracie wasn't exactly what she needed right now, anyway, because it made her think of…Julia.

Fiona looked up. Without even realizing it, she had driven straight into the parking lot of the bar. After deliberating, she shrugged. What the hell, right? She got out of her car and walked into the entrance, strolling causally to a stool and sitting down.

"Give me a beer," she ordered the bartender. He glanced at her suspiciously, but fulfilled her wish, and Fiona took a sip of the beer. It was okay, she decided. She grabbed a nut from a bowl and started chewing on it.

"I like those shoes."

Completely like herself, instead of first looking at the person who gave her the compliment or thanking them, Fiona looked down at her shoes. They were her favorite pair of boots, a dark purple that made her calves look good and made her feel confident. Then Fiona looked up at the person who had given her the compliment. She instantly met warm, brown eyes that had shaggy locks of blonde hair falling into them. The guy looked to be about twenty, and had a sleepy look to his face that made him more attractive.

"Thanks." Fiona self-consciously inspected her shoes again. "I got them in New York."

"New York, huh?" The guy popped a nut in his mouth. "I've been there. That city is crazy."

"I lived there, and I just moved back," Fiona sighed, drinking more of her beer. "That city is amazing."

"More like completely out of control," the guy muttered.

"But that's what you have to love about it," Fiona argued. "The mayhem, the craziness, how you can just do whatever the hell you want, how there are no rules, how no one really judges you because everyone in New York is kind of weird. That's the best part."

The guy nodded thoughtfully. "I never thought of it that way. I suppose it's true, to an extent."

Fiona raised an eyebrow. "To an extent?"

"Besides the fact that gun shots are fired every day," the guy snorted.

"Only in some areas," Fiona protested. "The whole city is not like that."

"Yes, it is," the guy insisted. "I have been there, and it's all about violence."

"No, it's _not_," Fiona emphasized.

The guy laughed, beckoning the bar tender. "Hold on a second. Argue with me over another round of scotch, on me. I'm Matthew, by the way." He slid down a couple of stools so that he was right next to Fiona.

"I'm Fiona," Fiona introduced herself, slightly grinning and taking the shot of Scotch. "Now let's argue."

Their argument only lasted about fifteen minutes, because by that time, Fiona was too drunk to even comprehend words anymore, and Matthew was right behind her. However, they eventually made their way to the bathroom, and eventually began to kiss. Or rather, make out. And for the first time since she had come back to Toronto, Fiona felt…happy. Like she had a connection with Matthew.

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

++++++++++++++++OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO++++++++++++OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO++++++++++

Alli Bhandari stared at herself in the full length mirror, smoothing the shape hugging dress over her thighs and twirling around to make sure it didn't make her butt look big, or worse, make her stomach look large. However, the mirror revealed exactly how she wanted to look: perfect. Skinny, beautiful, and perfect. Her best friend, Jenna Middleton, hummed in approval, and Alli beamed. She felt great. She felt skinny, and beautiful, and great. Just the way she ought to.

"You should totally buy that," Jenna approved, messing around with her hair.

Alli put her hands on her hips. "You think?"

Jenna nodded. "Totally."

Alli shrugged. "I don't know. I have something in my closet just like it. Maybe something else." She carelessly dropped the dress on the dressing room floor and strutted out, Jenna right next to her. As they passed by boys who ogled them in the mall, they each gave confident waves. They kept their heads held high, and kept their heels clacking to a beat. Their jeans made their legs look long and skinny and their strapless shirts revealed no hint of fat.

This is what you had to look like to be Alli Bhandari. No one recognized her as the loser, chubby girl she was back in seventh grade. Everything had changed since Julia had left, and she and Jenna had transformed themselves into pure beauty. And now they both ruled the school, just like Julia had.

And Alli was damn proud of it. So what, she had to make a few sacrifices, like making herself throw up for an entire year, ditching her friends Clare, Fiona, and Gracie. Although, actually, Fiona had moved off to New York with her family, and Grace had apparently gotten some sort of swimming scholarship to some school in Texas, and her twin brother that no one had known about named Adam moved in. Alli thought the whole situation was a little weird, but whatever. She didn't have time to care.

Alli glanced up, and absently noticed Clare, her former friend, going into the store Forever 21, all alone. Alli considered waving, but then decided against it almost immediately. She couldn't wave to Clare. Clare was no longer cool enough, and Alli had a reputation to maintain.

Alli and Jenna slid into a table with plates of salad, both of them without dressing and only with vegetables. Alli poked it around, not really knowing if she should eat it or not, her stomach in somewhat of a knot. She was thinking about her current boyfriend, Drew Torres. Yesterday, at a hot tub party, Drew had been flirtatious with these skinny little girls who were all around him giggling. IT seemed like he was always flirting with girls who weren't Alli, and that was a little frustrating.

"So, I was thinking that for the Power Squad cheer, we could do that formation that I came up with," Jenna beamed.

Alli nodded. "Yeah, it was good. Although maybe we shouldn't put Anya on top of the pyramid. I don't want to see her cellulite."

"Or her terrible wannabe tan," Jenna snickered. "God, she must have been lying about going to the Bahamas."

"I know!" Alli squealed. "God, she's like part albino."

"But don't even get me started on Holly J.," Jenna rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad we already put her in her place. She thought she was so cool, with that lifeless hair, flat chest, bad attitude."

"And you know what I heard?" Alli paused. "Her family's broke."

Jenna clapped a hand over her mouth. "Not Holly J."

"Yes!"

"Huh," Jenna snorted. "That's strange."

"I know," Alli shrugged. "At least the bitch is getting what she deserves."

"And you know what else I heard?" Jenna put a delicate bite of salad in her mouth. "She's gotten desperate enough, she's dating that freak, Adam."

Alli winced uncomfortably at the name of her former best friend's brother who looked painfully like Gracie. "That freak?" Alli tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "Wow, HJ's life has gone downhill."

"Yeah, she's single for life," Jenna said nastily. Alli glanced down, feeling depressed again about her current relationship.

Jenna looked up at Alli's face, reading her mind, and snickered. "Drew, huh? Don't worry. Don't think he would be willing to cheat on you, knowing how we'd destroy him socially if he did."

Alli smiled slightly. "I know. I just don't understand how I can be boring him. I mean, how could he not want this?" Alli gestured to her drop dead gorgeous body.

Jenna shrugged, taking a sip of her water. "Sweetie, it's not you. It's him. Are you bringing him to the dance?"

"I don't know," Alli mumbled. "Maybe. I'll have to see."

"I heard whoever he brings get to ride in a limo," Jenna gushed.

"Great," Alli muttered. Her stomach turned in a knot again, and she quickly opened her purse and scavenged around for the pack of emergency Cheetos she kept inside. Not even caring that Jenna was still watching her, she started to shove them into her mouth.

"Um, Al? Are you sure you should be eating those?"

Alli paused, a handful midway to her mouth. "God, no. Well, I have to go," she laughed nervously. "See you."

"Bye," Jenna waved, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

Alli immediately rose and ran off into the parking lot, getting into her car. She could feel the Cheetos fattening her thighs, the oil going through her pores, her face getting pimples again. Were her jeans getting tighter? Were her sleeves? Alli sped home, running a hand though her long, glossy hair. As soon as she pulled into the driveway, she hopped out the car and ran inside, immediately closing herself into the bathroom and getting rid of what was inside of her.

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"Hey, Adam," Drew said easily. "What's up?"

Adam glanced up from the comic he was reading, looking at his brother's care free and open face. "Nothing much." He gestured to his bed, which he was currently sitting on comfortably. "Wanna sit?"

"Nah," Drew shook his head. "Declan's going to be here in a few, so I should get ready."

Adam froze, his hand ice on the page of his comic. "Declan? Declan _Coyne_?"

Drew rolled his eyes. "Do you know anyone else with that name?"

Adam took a deep breath. The Coynes had moved back up from New York. The last time he had seen Fiona was when he was Gracie. But Gracie was gone- she was in Texas. That was the lie his mom had put out on the streets to keep Adam safe and make it so he wouldn't be bullied. So Adam was the other brother that had been…somewhere. Adam forgot what lie his mom had used to back that up. And Adam felt like when he changed to Adam, he left behind all the painful memories that Gracie had accumulated. Especially the ones having to do with…Julia. Adam shuddered, trying to get over his first crush, especially since it was while he was Gracie, but he couldn't. She had been his first love, and when she found out, tormented him about it ruthlessly.

Of course, those who had remained behind, like Clare and Alli, didn't know that Adam was Gracie, or rather, Gracie was Adam. Adam wondered if Fiona would see past his disguise; she had always been the perceptive one of their clique. But enough thinking of that. Thinking about it made Adam depressed.

Adam sighed and pushed his hair from his forehead. "So, Andrew, what are you guys going to do?"

Drew scowled, hating when Adam called him his full name. "I don't know. Play video games, catch up a little bit. And don't worry, Fiona's not coming, so the awkwardness level can be low."

"Huh," Adam muttered. "When's Alli going to come over again? She is your girlfriend."

Drew took a ball from Adam's dresser and started tossing it up and down in the air. "Alli's chill. Hot as hell, that's for sure."

"And?" Adam prodded.

Drew paused, looking at Adam blankly. "And what?"

Adam frowned at his brother. "Drew, you shouldn't just like a girl because she's hot. What are your reasons for choosing Alli? You guys have been dating for a year now."

Drew groaned and flopped onto Adam's bed, landing on the comic book. "God, why should I? I like her. I don't have reasons. Done deal."

Adam shoved his brother off the book. "Ugh, Andrew. Such a disappointment," he teased.

Drew grinned, and then his ears pricked up as he heard the doorbell. "See you. And also, Mom wants you to take brownies to the people who moved into the Christian's house."

Adam paled. "You don't mean Julia's, do you?"

Drew sighed, patting his brother sympathetically. "Don't worry, man. Just give them the brownies and leave, alright?" Without waiting for a response, Drew turned and ran down the hallway towards the front door. Adam sighed, grabbing his car keys off of the dresser and walking out the side door, not wanting a confrontation with Declan, Fiona's brother. He got into his car and drove to the all too familiar house where Julia's family had lived, though they moved after her disappearance. Adam swallowed hard, getting out of the car and walking onto the porch, knocking on the door.

A few seconds later, it opened. A girl who looked to be about Adam's age, with shocking, ice blue eyes and pretty brown hair that cascaded over her shoulder's opened the door, smiling widely. "Hi there!" she said excitedly, grabbing the pan out of Adam's hands. "Are these for us? I love brownies."

"Yeah," Adam said embarrassedly. "My mom made them."

"Oh, this is great! I love brownies!" The girl tucked them under her arm and held it out. "I'm Katie, by the way. Katie Maitlin."

"I'm Adam Torres," Adam offered, shaking her hand. "Wow, you have a strong grip."

Katie laughed. "I'm an athlete. All American soccer player. How about you? Any sports?"

Adam shrugged. "Not really the sporty type."

"Oh," Katie grinned. "I guess we don't have that much in common then."

"Devoted athlete, huh?" Adam nodded. "Talk to my brother. He's crazy about football."

Katie rolled her eyes. "I'm not one for football players. There's too much…touching, in that sport. Soccer, you have to run away."

"Yup," Adam agreed. He looked around the front of the house, reminiscing. This place hadn't changed at all, and it brought back so many memories…some good, others bad.

"Hey, don't go daydreaming on me now," Katie teased. She playfully shoved Adam. Adam smiled, ducking his head. Katie was awfully pretty, and when she touched him, he felt something…electric.

Katie must have sensed the same thing, because her expression turned unsure and uncomfortable within seconds. "Um…well, I should probably go eat dinner. Thanks for the brownies. Will I see you at Degrassi?"

Adam smiled. "You go there? So do I. So yeah, you'll see me."

"Cool," Katie winked. "I'll need someone to show me around." She waved and closed the door. Adam breathed out, shoving his hands into his pockets.

He had a feeling this year was going to be very, very interesting.

**Reviews? I apologize if it's bad, but I would love to know your thoughts.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Thirteen year old Fiona Coyne arrived at her friend Clare's house first, hoisting a sleeping bag and a duffle bag full of clothes and her stuffed animal she couldn't sleep without. Her hair was in two, pretty long braids. Fiona was wearing something typical of herself; an off the shoulder bright blue top with striped blue and black tights, even going so far as to weave black and blue string in her hair. She waved eagerly to her mom, Laura, who was currently backing out the driveway. Laura blew Fiona back a kiss, and Fiona smiled. Unlike other girls, she didn't mind PDA with her mom. She thought it was sweet. She started to hum, eagerly rocking back and forth on her heels.

Next, Clare came out of her house, greeting Fiona with a hug and smelling strongly of her favorite perfume, which was a mixture of strawberries and vanilla. Clare's short and curly hair was pulled into a pretty ponytail on top of her head, since she had just gotten back from volleyball practice. Clare had changed into a cute denim miniskirt and a pretty pink top. She and Fiona went to go sit on the porch swing and wait for the others, falling into conversation about what they would be doing this summer.

Another car pulled into the driveway, and Alli Bhandari came out, clumsily holding a duffle bag. Alli had never really been skinny, but she gained a lot of weight after her parents divorced and her brother moved in with her dad. Alli's tank top was tight and showed how large her stomach was, but no one ever brought up things like that except for Julia. Alli waved an eager goodbye to her mom, and then ran up to the porch, giving Fiona and Clare eager hugs and slipping on a pair of new sunglasses she thought were cool.

Finally, Gracie Torres got here. Her mom's familiar Volvo pulled into the driveway, and before Gracie got out, it looked like her and her mom were discussing something very important. Gracie's face look tired, and bored, as if she had already heard this before. Finally, with a brief wave and hug, Gracie got out the car and immediately headed for the porch where her friends were. Again, she was wearing something that wasn't really that feminine, with guy-ish looked jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt. But all three girls cheerfully greeted her anyway as they hugged and headed over to Julia's house, which was right next door.

Clare lead the parade, as usual when Julia wasn't around, eagerly jumping and running over to her best friend's house. She seemed more cheerful today than she had been in a while.

"What's up, Clare? Got some ecstasy we don't know about?" Alli joked. Everyone laughed.

Clare shook her head. "Just you guys wait! I have the best news!" The girls skipped past Julia's front yard, where they could see in the back the workers who were making the Christian's new gazebo. One of them gave the girls a perverted stare, and they all shivered, speeding up. The workers had dug a large hole, and were getting ready to fill it up with cement. Julia had promised the girls would be hanging out in the gazebo a lot as soon as it was finished.

They had arrived at Julia's house, and Clare eagerly knocked on the door, giggling out of excitement.

Mrs. Christian opened the door, a formal lady who never seemed to age. Her face broke out into a large smile as she saw the girls. "Guys, hello! All ready for your sleepover tonight?"

"Yes!" Clare cried. "Is Julia home?"

Mrs. Christian smiled knowingly. "Back porch, dear. Oh, and Fiona, don't you look just lovely today! And Alli, your tank top is gorgeous. And Gracie, I swear, if you don't stop growing…" She let her threat trail off, and the girls all laughed as they made her way around her and ran towards the back of the house. Clare eagerly threw open the screen door, and the four girls all stepped out into the bright, summer air.

Julia was sitting in her favorite chair, a notebook in her lap, scribbling furiously. Even as she didn't try to, she looked painfully beautiful as she did so, her long, black hair falling over her face, her bright, hazel eyes wide with glee and mischievousness, her long and graceful fingers tracing over every word. Alli cleared her throat, and Julia glanced up, knocked out of her trance. A wide smile came across her face, and she stood up, revealing her perfect body figure.

"Hey, guys!" Julia greeted easily. "What's up?"

"I have great news," Clare blurted out. "You know how Darcy is going to Kenya to build that school for a few months? Well, she's leaving tomorrow morning, and tonight we have the barn…for our sleepover."

Julia's mouth dramatically dropped open and all the other girls stood up and cheered, Clare feeling proud.

"That's awesome!" Julia clapped. "Tonight's going to be great."

"What should we do?" Gracie pretended to think, and then giggled. "Wait, do you remember that time we went skinny dipping?" She laughed. On one of their many sleepovers, they had gone in Clare's pool without any clothing on and splashed around until the early hours of the morning, running away and screaming when Clare's parents came out to see what all the noise was about.

"I bet you do," Julia murmured. Gracie looked down uncomfortably. "But any way, guys, this is going to be great."

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Fiona squealed. "I think that tomorrow my dad can probably drive us to the mall after the sleepover or something. We should totally hit it up!"

"Tomorrow?" Julia put a finger to her chin. "But Fi, isn't that one of your dad's teaching days? Won't he be kind of _tied_ up with one of his students?" Fiona's smile dropped like a hot potato and Julia snickered nastily. Alli, Clare, and Gracie looked confused, not understanding.

Alli plopped down on a chair and plunged her hand into a bowl of chips sitting on the table. "Well, this is going to be awesome tonight, guys."

"Hey, Al, maybe you shouldn't eat those," Julia simpered. "Some people's stomachs are sensitive, and just can't hold down their food, and I think yours is like that, too."

Alli slowly let the chips fall out of her hand, moving it back into her lap and looking down sadly. Julia laughed, and then turned to Clare. Clare raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips and challenging Julia back. Clare was the only person willing to compete with Julia, to argue about everything with her, to challenge her. And Julia didn't like it at all…but even Clare had a secret that only Julia knew.

Just then, the girls all snapped up to see Darcy strutting across Julia's yard, heading over to her and Clare's house. Darcy was wearing a short skirt that showed off her gorgeous, long legs and a tank top.

"Darcy!" Julia called, standing up. Clare sighed, standing up as well and glaring at Julia.

Darcy spun around, her tanned face annoyed but then replaced with fake niceness. "Oh! Hi, Julia."

"So, you're off to Kenya, huh?" Julia asked conversationally.

Darcy ran a hand through her hair, smiling. "Uh-huh, that's right. For a month."

"Well, that's great!" Julia hopped on her foot a little. "Is Peter coming with you?"

"Julia," Clare warned.

Darcy's smile shrunk just the tiniest bit. "Oh, he's not coming."

Julia acted surprised, pressing hand to her heart. "Oh! Well, what if he gets a new girlfriend while you're gone?"

"Julia," Clare hissed. The other girls looked among each other, confused at the tension.

Darcy snorted. "Sweetie, Peter and I are in a long term relationship, as we have been for two years. That's not going to happen." She rolled her eyes, as if the whole idea was preposterous.

Julia tilted her head. "Really? Because-"

"Julia, God!" Clare interrupted impatiently. "Don't you think what Darcy needs to do is a little bit more important than talking to you!"

"Whoa, Clare," Julia grinned. "Seems like you have something to hide, huh? Overly defensive, much."

Darcy's expression became confused. "Um, I'm leaving now," she said slowly, turning away. As soon as she was gone, Clare spun around to Julia, anger in her eyes.

"What the hell was that?" Clare screeched. Julia, who had started texting and was giggling, rolled her eyes.

"Do you really want me to say?" Julia breathed, and then broke out into laughter. Alli joined in, but Clare glared at her, and she stopped. Fiona unsurely twirled one of her braids, and started singing one of her favorite songs, trying to stop the tension. Gracie just looked down again.

Clare growled, and then threw her hands up in the air. "Let's just go to the barn." She turned and stormed towards her house. The other girls looked amongst themselves and shrugged, getting up and hesitating until Julia started to walk. Then Alli walked behind her, then Fiona, and bringing up the rear, Gracie. They crossed the backyard in agitated, tense silence, broken by Julia's occasional giggles and the clicking of her phone. This had been happening a lot; Julia would say something, and one of the girls would get upset. This never used to happen, and it was taking a toll on their friendship. And if this toll was big…the girls would lose their friendship with Julia, and spiral back towards being unnoticed. It was a heavy price.

Of course, not bigger than the one they would have to pay that night.

Clare threw open the doors of the grand antique barn, that had been standing since the 1800's and still had the faint lingering smell of gun powder, although it had been masked well by the smell of popcorn and alcohol wafting around. Clare's eyes immediately zeroed in on Darcy and her boyfriend, Peter, kissing on the couch, Darcy straddling him.

Clare cleared her throat. Darcy looked up angrily, about to lash out, but then saw Clare's friends there, and immediately smiled, getting off of Peter's lap. "Hey, guys! I just saw you a second ago!" she hinted, her annoyance laced innocently in her voice as she glowered nastily at Clare.

Clare twirled a curl around her finger, smiling at Peter. "Hey." The rest of the girls chimed in a shy greeting, too. Peter was the dreamiest catch at Degrassi, with his golden locks of hair and his bluish greenish eyes, muscular body, and great singing voice. Anyone could notice the painful crush Clare had developed on him. As if knowing her thoughts, Peter flashed all of the girls a dreamy smile, making them all rock on their heels a bit before getting their balance again.

"Hey, Darc. Hey, Peter." Julia stepped forward, in front of Clare, as if having to show she was the leader of the group. "Having fun?"

Peter winked at her. "You know it. C'mon, Darc, let's let these girls have their sleepover."

Darcy sighed. "Fine. We can go to my room." She grabbed Peter's hand and dragged him out, shooting daggers at Clare. As soon as they both left, all the girls swooned and flopped onto the couches, sighing.

"God, he is so hot," Alli groaned.

"He doesn't deserve my sister," Clare said, frustrated. "She's so wrong for him."

"Why is that?" Fiona asked, sitting by Clare.

Gracie rolled over on her side. "Yeah, why?"

Clare propped her face up one her hand. "It's just…Peter is so laid back and relaxed, and Darcy is always stressing about something, since she's little miss perfect. Their personalities are so, so not similar. And besides, Peter seems to like-"

"Younger girls?" Julia chimed in. Clare shot her a look, but Julia kept going. "You know, I could never hide a secret from my brother-"

"Stop it," Clare hissed.

"But you seemed to have nailed that art." Julia shook her head. "You know, I should really tell Darcy-"

"Julia," Clare growled.

Fiona looked back and forth, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Clare snapped. She then took a deep, relaxing breath, and in a few moments, a very serene smile crept across her face. She seemed to have calmed down. "Ok. So, I was thinking-"

"We'll do mani-pedis," Julia interrupted. "Then, we'll try on each other's clothes. Then, we watch MTV and drink Diet Coke. Then, we eat dinner, and I want Chinese. Then, we watch movies."

"I love that idea," Alli immediately said.

"Me too," Gracie quickly agreed.

"I'm in," Fiona said swiftly. They all glanced at Clare, who sighed in defeat. "Fine."

"Let's get started, ladies." Julia clapped her hands together. The girls all huddled around each other with nail polish, and soon, the tension eased away. Julia didn't make any hints to their secrets anymore, so there was lots of laughter and joking and even hugging. Although Julia did seem distant, and distracted, she also seemed happy, and nicer than she had been for a long time. Finally, when it was dark outside, the girls settled into the sofas, ready to watch the movie. Julia stopped them then.

"Guys," Julia said eagerly. "You know my friend Taylor, on the volleyball team? She taught me how to hypnotize people. And I want to try it."

"I don't think-" Clare started.

"I'm in," Alli interrupted. She looked at Clare condescendingly. "Come on, Clare, don't be a prude." Alli was always eager to impress Julia, knowing that with a snap of Julia's fingers, Alli could become a huge dork again. And there was no way she wanted that to happen.

Clare let out an indignant squeak. "I'm just saying-"

"Well, I'll give it a try," Fiona agreed. Fiona felt the same way Alli did, except not as desperately. Fiona was a beautiful girl who just couldn't fit in, but with Julia, she felt like she was able to. Fiona's beauty and being artistic intimidated people around her, so she could never really have friends.

Clare glared at her. "You know, you don't always have to-"

"I'm in too," Gracie concluded. Clare growled and Julia beamed triumphantly, smirking. Clare then sighed, and sat down on the round white rug, the other girls sitting down as well to form a circle. Julia pulled out vanilla scented candles from her bag and placed them around the room. Then she pulled out a lighter and lit all of them, the sweet vanilla aroma wafting around. Everyone except for Julia closed their eyes, relaxing, except for Clare, who remained stiff and tense.

"Okay," Julia began. "Just relax. Inhale, exhale. I'm going to count down from one hundred. When I finish, you will be under my command."

Clare shifted uncomfortably, but the other girls remained as immobile as rocks.

"100, 99, 98, 97," Julia chanted, slowly walking around the room and closing the blinds. The lighting that had filled the room began to fade, the barn becoming dark except for the light the candles made. Clare shut her eyes tightly, trying to relax, but it felt like there was a weight pressing down on her chest, making it hurt for her to breath. Her breath was coming in raggedly, and her hands felt heavy, and useless. Her legs started to fall asleep. Clare gasped in air as her eyes opened, and saw Julia going over to the last shade, still counting down.

Clare sprang up, a little wobbly, and walked over to her, grabbing Julia's hand. "No. It's too dark in here already."

Julia placed her hands on her hips. "This is the way it's supposed to be. You're scared of the dark?"

Clare shook her head feverishly, pulling the blinds back up. "Just…no."

Julia yanked Clare's arm down. "Don't touch it! No one else is complaining!"

Clare glanced over at the others, who still had their eyes shut and were still as still as stone. "That's because they're asleep, Julia."

Julia huffed. "They're hypnotized, not asleep. And you're going to ruin it. Sit back down."

"Stop trying to tell me what to do," Clare hissed. "I've had it." She reached up to push the blinds up again.

Julia's eyes nervously flickered to the window as she shoved Clare's arms down again. "I said stop it! Don't ruin it! It has to be done this way!"

Clare rolled her eyes. "God, take a pill."

"You want me to take one?" Julia's eyes gleamed. "Please. You're the one with a million issues. Shall I say them out loud?"

Clare's face flushed with anger. "Get out!"

A flicker of fear went across Julia's face before she pointed her chin up. "Fine." She pivoted and opened up the barn door, stalking out. Clare bit her lip, feeling a little guilty, and chased after her. Little did they know, Fiona's eyes had been half opened the entire time and she had watched the whole fight go down, wanting to help, but not being able to move her limbs. She finally blinked slowly, raising her hands to touch her face, as if to make sure it was still there. Then she heard a loud crash, and jumped.

"Guys?" Fiona cried, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Fi?" Alli asked groggily, rubbing her eyes. Gracie, too, had awoken from the loud noise and was stretching, yawning a little.

"Where's Julia?" She asked. "Where's Clare?"

"I don't know," Fiona said slowly. "I just heard a crash, and that's what woke me up."

"Same!" Alli said in surprise. The three girls looked amongst each other anxiously. Fiona began humming loudly, her bright blue eyes wide as she tried to calm herself down. Gracie bit her lip, glancing at the door anxiously. Alli whipped her phone out and began typing a text to Julia, who of late never went without her phone anywhere.

"Where are they?" Alli muttered desperately.

"Here," Clare said tonelessly, appearing in the door way of the barn. Her face was pale, and her expression indicated she had just done something she regretted.

"Clare! Where's Julia?" Fiona demanded.

Clare blinked slowly, as if in a daze. "I don't know…I didn't see…She's gone, guys."

Alli narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, _gone_?"

Clare sighed, sinking down into a chair. "She just…left."

Gracie hesitated a long moment. "I think I want to go home," she finally said. The other girls slowly nodded their agreement, grabbing their bags with their heads hanging low. It had finally happened. Julia had ditched them, just like she had probably been wanting to for the past few weeks. It was embarrassing, really, how this summer they weren't going to be able to strut around as the coolest girls in Rosewood, and some other girls would take their place in Julia's clique. Or how when the eighth grade school year started, they would go back to the way they had been; Gracie the shy, quiet swimmer; Fiona the weird, artsy girl; Alli the dorky, pudgy wanna be cool figure; and Clare the overachieving, anal, always one step behind her sister competitor. And Julia…well…

Julia would remain on top. As she always had, as she always will.

Or so the girls thought as they parted that night, walking back to their houses in shame.

But Julia wouldn't be coming back.

The next morning, Mrs. Christian called all of the girls over, questioning them, asking if they knew were Julia was, that she hadn't come back. All four girls were alarmed, but covered for Julia, saying she was at a friend's house. But by the afternoon, Mrs. Christian had panicked, and called the police. Clare watched from her window as the police cars pulled into the driveway, the officers prepared to find Julia.

The only thing was, they never did.

Besides gut wrenching guilt, the girls also felt a strange mix of…relief. If Julia was gone, then that meant their secrets were safe. Finally. And they didn't have to worry about Julia threatening to tell them, because they were the only ones that knew them. Although the girls cried over Julia's disappearance, there was that space in the back of their minds that told them to relax, that their secrets were finally safe.

And for three years, they were.


End file.
